EVOLUTION WATCH

Darwin debunked at Hollywood High

Students exposed to theories based on 'nothing but blind faith'

Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially.

Documentaries, especially those quoting renowned scientists talking about their specialties, often are dull. So how is this “Evolution vs. God” project by Christian evangelist Ray Comfort raising so much ruckus?

Perhaps it’s because the evolutionary experts themselves are unable to provide scientific evidence to support the theory to which they have devoted their lives.

The push and shove has gotten to the point that American Atheists Inc tweeted to its 31,000 followers that Comfort should release unedited footage of interviews he conducted with four evolutionary scientists.

In the film, “Evolution vs. God,” the scientists are unable to offer any observable scientific evidence for Darwinian evolution. The tweet said, “Ray, we challenge you to post the unedited interviews of the scientists – We’ll help promote them if you do.”

Other atheists joined the call, with Andrew Dougy Rutherford stating, “Yeah, getting to see the full unedited interviews would be great. If your case against them is as solid as you claim then you would have no problem doing this.”

“‘Evolution vs. God’ shows that there’s no evidence for Darwinian evolution – that it rests on nothing but blind faith,” he said. “So they are hoping to find some ‘silver bullet’ in what wasn’t used that will discredit the movie. They know that millions are going to end up seeing evolutionary scientists from USC and UCLA gasping like fish out of water, as they try to think of scientific evidence for Darwinian evolution.”

He responded: “American Atheists, Inc. Want to see all the interview footage? Let’s go on TV. Convince me with a good reason to, and I will release it.”

In the documentary, a prominent anthropology professor from UCLA offers a solution for those who doubt Darwinian evolution: Use your imagination.

The faceoff with the atheists happened just as Comfort’s organization was announcing plans to hand out the documentary to students arriving at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles.

The documentary has been viewed thousands of times online as a premium product and 100,000 times in just the first few days of its availability on YouTube.

Very simply, the film gives scientists the chance to talk about the evidence for evolution.

Comfort explained: “I went to the experts with a camera and asked evolutionary scientists for scientific proof for Darwinian evolution, and the silence was deafening. They didn’t have any, and the reason that they didn’t have any is because there isn’t any. If you don’t believe it, watch the movie. If you are a believer in evolution, prepare to have your faith shaken.”

Comfort’s ministry said that on Aug. 13, students entering Hollywood High will be given the DVD.

Ron Love, a spokesman for the producers, said public schools “do not allow honest discussion and debate when it comes to the evidence against evolution, on the grounds of separation of church and state and an erroneous stance that creationism and Intelligent Design are unscientific and based on faith.”

“‘Evolution vs. God’ lifts the mask off this fallacy by showing that it is actually Darwinian evolution that is founded on a lack of observable science and based on blind faith,” he said. “It is obvious that the majority of public educators cannot be trusted to give our children the truth, so it is time to take matters into our own hands for their sake.”

Comfort said his goal is to distribute a million “Evolution vs. God” DVDs, especially to students in learning institutions around the world.

The bestselling author and TV co-host added, “There are millions who have been duped into blindly believing this unscientific theory, and they need to know the truth.”

In 2008 his organization gave away 200,000 copies of Darwin’s famous book, “Origin of Species,” containing a special foreword, at 100 universities in one day, across the U.S.

The suggestion that imagination would help came from Gail Kennedy, who was interviewed by Comfort.

“The problem with those who are unable to see evolution, I think, is they don’t have imaginations,” she said.

Several of the scientists interviewed in the video already have spoken out about it.

According to Ken Ham’s blog at Answers in Genesis, Minnesota professor PZ Myers, who was interviewed by Comfort, said: “Lie harder, little man. … Ray Comfort is pushing his new creationist movie with a lie. … What actually happened is that I briefly discussed the evidence for evolution – genetics and molecular biology of fish, transitional fossils, known phylogenies relating extant groups, and experimental work on bacterial evolution in the lab, and Ray Comfort simply denied it all – the bacteria were still bacteria, the fish were still fish.”

But Ham explained that Comfort “asks a question something like this: ‘Is there scientific evidence – observable evidence – to support evolution?’ Well, none of them could provide anything remotely scientific. Oh, they give the usual examples about changes in bacteria, different species of fish (like stickleback fish) and, as to be expected, Darwin’s finches. But as Ray points out over and over again in ‘Evolution vs. God,’ the bacteria are still bacteria, the fish are still fish, and the finches are still finches!”

Other scientists interviewed are Peter Nonacs of UCLA and Craig Stanford of USC.

Said Nonacs: “I am one of the evolutionary biologists interviewed by Ray Comfort for his new DVD. First, Ray is a charming fellow and I greatly enjoy interacting with him. I do not expect that my words will be edited out of context or that I’ll find myself somehow saying on camera that ‘All of evolutionary biology is a hoax perpetuated in order to justify atheism.’ In short, I expect that everything in the DVD will be an accurate reflection of my words.”

Ham said that when Comfort interviews university students, “you will quickly see they have no idea how to defend evolution.”